interesting take on lane splitting..

[yamihoe]

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JNGD9AAIfFU]How and Why Motorcycle Lane Splitting is Safe and Good - RideApart - YouTube[/ame]

its kinda long but I did enjoy it. Too bad I live in Georgia :'(

 

[Red Wazp]

Try lane splitting on a Gold Wing. Uffda, it's a lot of work.

I try really hard not to ride where I would need to lane split by staying out of metro areas or freeway riding. Cities just suck!

 

[Lefty]

Great video.
There's only 3 things great about California, lane splitting, the weather, and the variety of scenic places to visit. Other than that Cali sucks and I'm a native Californian. In NorCal where I live, lane splitting is somewhat common but a large number of cagers aren't happy when you do it and will go so far as to try and block you. :Flip:
In SoCal however, when I ride down to visit my forum pals there, lane splitting is the rule of the day and a necessity to getting around. Strangely enough, the SoCal cagers seem to accept it and in my experience will actually (for the most part) do their best to give you some extra room to get by. :thumbup:

 

[2006_FZ6]

I was just in So Cal last week and I agree, the cagers shifted away from the bikes that were lane splitting. And the weather was fabulous! I was jealous of all the bikes out and enjoying the sunshine. Ride safe!

 

[Guitar Man]

I was in NorCal down to San Francisco in June and they do try to make room for you. It would have taken a long time to get out of San Fran had I not been able to lane split. I wish they would pass it here in Texas.

 

[SmokeEater37]

Here in Ohio, it is neither legal nor illegal specifically. No statutes against it, but one jerk cop could easily write you a ticket if he thinks you are riding recklessly by lane splitting. Haven't tried it yet, going to give it a shot when the weather thaws in March.

 

[SweaterDude]

just saw this earlier today, good video.

 

[PPieter]

Great video, I don't really get why it is illegal in the US.

I live in Belgium (the survey country they mention in the video) and lane splitting in common practice over here. Even more, it is quite normal cagers give you some extra space when they see you coming.

Too bad maybe they did not cover how to interact with other bikers during lane splitting, especially when there are faster guys who overtake you on a different lane.

If bikes were build to stand in traffic, they would have had four wheels

 

[beatle]

I'll play devil's advocate here. It's certainly an activity that inspires confidence and reinforces why being on a bike is so great, but it's difficult for me to say that it's safer. The stat on being rear-ended was interesting, but I'm sure there are also accidents that occur as a result of lane-splitting, whether it is done responsibly or not.

Don't get me wrong, I think it has merits to reduce congestion, and it definitely seems like an empowering reason to be on a bike when commuting, but I'd like to see something a little more objective.

 

[2old2ride]

In Tennessee it is illegal as 'ell. Not sure how active enforcement is. When I rode courier while in school, I HAD to do it. That was in DC, where bumper to bumper, all lanes, all the time is normal. I'm too old to play in traffic, so I doubt that I will do it once riding season gets here.
I have no need to anyway. Left out of my driveway, 400 meters to another left then 200 meters to a right and I'm 50 meters from a nice blacktop the goes to Kentucky (150 miles) without going past anything bigger then a gas station. I can happily putt-putt along, gossiphing with the cows trotting alongside. Knock 20 points off my blood pressure.

 

[Cloggy]

Here in Holland it is totally legal, and everyone understands this, most car drivers will make room for you to pass. There is even a "rules of conduct" drawn up by the government.
Having said this I would not want to lane split in a place where it is not accepted, as frustrated drivers can be very dangerous.

 

[Erci]

Illegal in New Jersey. The law here states that "2 vehicles cannot occupy one lane". Sure you can argue your case and say you weren't in either lane.. you were on white line, but good luck with that! It's a 5 point ticket (expensive!! And enough to revoke my MSF license )

I've done it when it had to be done (total stand-still traffic) and the drivers were getting ridiculously angry at me.. like I was stealing from them!! Constant honking from some and some would intentionally cut into white line (even though they had nowhere to go from there).

As for safety aspect (getting hit from the back), I'd love to see real statistics on that. I bet most motorcycle hit-from-behind crashes happen at stop sighs and traffic lights. And there are definitely plenty of crashes which result from lane splitting (I know I've seen a few on youtube).

I would love for lane splitting to be legal here (and everywhere, for that matter), but it will only be *safer* than standing in traffic if cagers know that it is legal and don't go out of their way to try to kill you.

 

[sniff6]

Second nature to lane split. Unless you like sitting in traffic ??

 

[motojoe122]

Just watched it today, great video:thumbup:
Growing up in CA, I was accustomed to seeing bikes split lanes, even moving for them to get by. Now Im in NJ and I have my bike, Im curious to see how I would cope with traffic there AND being able to split lanes:don'tknow:

 

[Motogiro]

Here in Ohio, it is neither legal nor illegal specifically. No statutes against it, but one jerk cop could easily write you a ticket if he thinks you are riding recklessly by lane splitting. Haven't tried it yet, going to give it a shot when the weather thaws in March.

California is the same as far as the law is concerned. There is just no law against lane splitting and if a LEO feels like you're splitting dangerously they will write you up. I've had people try to block me although it's rare. All in all, my experience has been great and I usually do it in slow traffic or when filtering up to a stop light. I do feel safer when stopped between cars for protection.

We have a lot of bikes that commute every day, year round here and so I think culturally it is accepted more by automobile drivers.

 

[JimStl]

Makes me miss California!

 

[7UPyours]

makes me want to move to Cali, I do agree with everything they said and wish more states would allow it.

 

[rsw81]

Awful video... seriously poorly put together and horrible acting, crappy data, etc. I was really hoping for something useful out of this video; something you can show a politician and actually get their attention. Unfortunately this is the farthest thing from it. Politicians will see this and only see young dumb $hits goofing off on the freeway, videoing themselves and talking about it on park benches while giggling about how awesome it is to ride a motorcycle. Pretty stupid.

 

[ryanag]

rsw81, if you had seen any of Ridapart's other videos, you'd know they are about entertaining the viewer and are not politically oriented.

 

[2old2ride]

Why? You cannot reason a person out of an opinion they were not reasoned into.
Lane splitting is illegal because the people that make the laws get pi55ed-off by having to sit in traffic when somebody else doesn't.
Nothing rational or logical about that, so a rational, logical argument will not affect them.
What can't be cured must be endured. Laughing takes less energy then crying. So why not have a little giggle at the expense of some cagers? It won't change anything either way.

Haji can't shoot.